Defense early focus for Scheyer’s first Duke basketball team

Durham

Like most Duke basketball teammates, Derek Lively and Darik Whitehead are new to not just college basketball, but campus.

However, the valuable freshman quickly learned that the foundation of the Blue Devils basketball must be a strong defense.

“Honestly, that’s the main thing about winning a national championship,” said Whitehead, the 6-foot-6 forward, following one of Duke’s summer practices.

Despite winning the ACC regular season and reaching the Final Four last season, Duke fell short of his ultimate goal of winning the NCAA Tournament. The Blue Devils led the nation in Ken Pomeroy’s offensive efficiency rating of his 121.1 points per 100 possessions.

But Duke’s defense ranked 49th in the nation, allowing 95.9 points per 100 possessions.

More traditionally, the Blue Devils allowed 67.8 points per game, 130th among all Division I teams in the nation.

It’s better than most, but not elite, which Duke strives to reach.

“The main thing we know is that we have to defend,” said Whitehead. “We have talked about not being left out of the debate of who is the best defender on the team. We all want to make sure we hold each other accountable. If we all do that, I think the attacks will resolve themselves.”

Whitehead and Lively, who are 7-1, are two of seven freshmen on this year’s Duke team and the first to have John Scheer as head coach following the retirement of Mike Kushwski.

Junior guard Jeremy Roach is the only player to start a game for Duke last season. Reserve guard Jalen Blakes (sophomore) will also return with his two walk-ons in Spencer his Hubbard and Stanley Boden.

Other than that, no Blue Devils played for Duke last season.

After attending summer school classes in late June and arriving on campus together to attend summer practice, a group of newcomers focused on the bonding time they needed.

They hope that unity will lead to not only a return to the Final Four, but a strong defense that knows what it takes to win a national championship.

“Before coming here, we had the ability to communicate with each other,” says Lively. “So we had a little bond. As soon as we got here? Brothers. If you need anything, you can go to each other. Even from the seniors you admire. Off the court, they But on the court, we’re making sure we’re not doing anything wrong, we’re not slowing down, we’re not making the playoffs.”

The Blue Devils went 32-7 after losing just three of their last 16 games last season. However, they gave up over 81 points in all three of these losses. 94-81 to North Carolina in the regular season finale, 82-67 to Virginia Tech in the ACC Tournament Finals, and 81-77 to UNC in the Four Semifinals. at New Orleans.

In each of these losses, the opposition scored at a points-per-possession (PPP) ratio that was much higher than Duke’s .959 average. His PPP for UNC was 1.25 for him in regular season wins and 1.17 for him in Final Four games. Virginia Tech won the ACC Title Game by scoring 1.24 points per possession.

Duke had seven-foot center Mark Williams, who averaged a league-best 2.82 blocked shots per game and was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year, but it all happened.

Again, Blue Devil’s defense was by no means poor last season.

The 2020-21 pandemic-affected team went 13-11 and ranked 79th in defensive efficiency with a 97, while Duke last fell short of the metric in 2015-16 when he was 86th and 100th. was.

Lively knows how important his role will be, especially after seeing how Williams played last season.

“I definitely spoke with him last year about his defensive presence and ability to get back at opponents, block shots and clear glasses in a stunt-like fashion,” Lively said. “So you can go back and forth between guarding your man and the driver. But you can also take that next step and extend your game. That’s the next step I’m going to take, let’s make sure everyone knows I can do it I am.”

Lively and Whitehead are the two Blue Devils most likely to be one-offs on the team this season. Both freshmen are projected to be lottery picks in next summer’s NBA Draft.

Yet they have already demonstrated their willingness to put the time and effort into the defense the Blue Devils need to challenge for the ACC and NCAA championships.